


Mirrors

by lifeinskinnyjeans



Category: Green Day
Genre: Artists, College, F/M, Multiple Personalities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-27
Updated: 2012-08-04
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:30:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinskinnyjeans/pseuds/lifeinskinnyjeans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arabella Fiesco is your stereotypical goth girl. She doesn't have many friends, she's very bitter, and she's rather antisocial, preferring to spend her days locked in her bedroom with her sketchbook and guitar than go to parties or go to town with her friends. Certain events in her life have made her this way, and she has told no one about these events...until she meets Billie Joe Armstrong.</p><p>Well, Billie Joe and his two other personalities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. uno

_Arabella_  
  
"Have you heard there's a new kid?"  
  
I turned my head to look over at the source of the question directed at me, my best friend, nicknamed Lee. "No," I answered, and looked back down at the sketchbook on my desk in front of me.  
  
"Well, he's supposed to be in this class," Lee said. I could feel her eyes had never left my face, and they were now flicking back and forth between my stolid face and the picture I was slowly forming on the exposed page of my sketchbook.  
  
"Woohoo." I looked up at the front of the classroom and noticed the absence of the professor. "Where the fuck is Jonsohn? He's usually telling me to put my sketchbook away with a scornful look on that ugly mug of his right about now," I wondered aloud, glancing at the clock mounted on the wall in front of me.  
  
I saw Lee shrug in my periphery. "If he doesn't show up after 15 minutes, we can leave."  
  
I turned to look at her, surprised. "Really?" I asked eagerly. She merely nodded at me. "Well that's nice to know," I said, turning back to my sketchbook.  
  
About two minutes later, Lee asked, "Bellie, what are you always drawing in there?"  
  
"Things," I answered immediately, not even bothering to look up or to even stop drawing.  
  
"Everyone, Jonsohn sent an email five minutes ago saying he has to cancel class," a voice that wasn't Lee's announced. I looked up and over in the direction of the voice, and saw some skinny kid waving his iPhone in the air. _Yes_ , I thought. _We can all read your fucking email from Jonsohn just because you're waving your fucking iPhone in the air._   At this announcement, everyone except Lee and I rose from their seats and left, chattering about how they all wished Jonsohn would've sent the email before class actually started and how they were all just gonna go back to sleep. I just rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to my sketchbook for the fourth time.  
  
"C'mon, Bellie, let's go catch some breakfast," Lee suggested, rising from her seat.  
  
I didn't move. "No thanks," I said, my pencil flying across the page in a quick, dark stroke. "You go ahead."  
  
"Aw, but it's no fun to eat alone!" Lee whined.  
  
I halted my hand, but didn't look up at Lee. "Lee," I said firmly. "I don't want breakfast."  
  
Lee sighed. "Alright. See you around, Bellie."  
  
"Bye." Once I heard the door to the classroom shut behind Lee as she left, I sighed and put down my pencil. I leaned back in my chair and brought my fingers up to my temples, closing my eyes and rubbing them as I relaxed.  
  
I then heard a small clicking noise as my pencil hit the floor. I sighed again, and when I opened my eyes to pick it up, I noticed there were a pair of black-Converse-clad feet standing where I had heard my pencil drop. "I believe this is yours," the voice belonging to the feet said.  
  
I looked up and noticed a boy. He was probably about five and a half feet tall, he had bleach blond hair that was growing out black at the roots, and quite the pair of green eyes. He had a small black messenger bag slung over one shoulder, and a guitar pick hanging from a chain around his neck, accompanied by a black long sleeve shirt, a puffy winter coat, and skinny jeans. I took the pencil from his outstretched hand and held it in between my middle and ring fingers. "Thanks," I said, smiling lightly.  
  
"What are you doing in here all by yourself?" the boy asked, taking a seat down next to me.  
  
I watched him as he sat down, observing his fluid movements. He obviously wasn't intimidated by strangers. "I was going to have a class in here this morning, but it was canceled, and I saw a great opportunity to just sit and draw. I haven't been able to do this in a while. They frown upon piles of eraser shavings on the library tables," I explained.  
  
The boy chuckled, blinked slowly, then raised his eyebrows. I had his attention. "You're an artist?" he asked.  
  
I shrugged. "A bit of one. It's more of a hobby than anything."  
  
I saw him try and glance over my arm to see what was on the exposed page. I instinctively covered it and slid it under my arm toward him. He nods in approval. "You're smart. You slid the sketchbook towards me instead of away from me."  
  
I blinked. "For years, people have always been trying to see what I draw, and I don't want them to. You learn how to manipulate people's senses." The boy's eyes inconspicuously looked me over after they had lingered on my obscured sketchbook for a few more moments, like he thought just staring at it would make whatever was on the page appear. "What are you doing in here asking the lonely girl what she's doing in here?" I asked.  
  
The boy smiled. "I tend to look around when I'm walking down halls. I was actually looking for this room, because I have a class in here as well, but if it's canceled, I'm in here for the same reasons you are. Well, at least the sitting part," he answered.  
  
"You must be the new boy that Lee was talking about," I told him.  
  
He nodded again, like he thought, 'Who else could I be?' "Billie Joe Armstrong," he said, holding out his hand.  
  
I put my pencil down and shook his hand. "Arabella Fiesco."  
  
"Do you have a nickname for that?" Billie asked.  
  
"My best friend Lee calls me Bellie," I said, shrugging because I didn't care if he called me that. All my professors called me Arabella just because they thought I would flip a shit and, like, fucking murder someone if they made up a nickname for me on their own. I always liked to observe authorities and how they acted around me. Their first impressions are always the most fun to determine.  
  
"Bellie," Billie said. "I don't see how that's going to work if my name is Billie."  
  
I smirked. "Well, you seem like a creative guy, I'm sure you could figure something else out," I said, picking up my pencil and turning to my sketchbook, making another dark stroke across the page.  
  
I saw Billie smile in my periphery. "Gimme a day or two, and I'm sure I'll have something that no one's ever even thought of before," he said.  
  
I looked over at him. "It's a bet, then."  
  
"A bet? What are the stakes?"  
  
"If you can think of a nickname that no one has called me yet in two days, you and only you can call me that name," I told him.  
  
"And if the name isn't completely original?" Billie asked.  
  
"If the name isn't completely original, you have to take me out to dinner. And it has to be off-campus," I said.  
  
Billie smiled and stuck out his hand. "Deal," he said. I shook his hand. I turned back to my sketchbook for about five minutes, and I could feel Billie's eyes watching my hand fly across the pages, then he asked, "So can I take you to breakfast on-campus now?"  
  
I stopped drawing, sighed, and smiled, closing my sketchbook and looking over at him. "Sure."  
  
Billie smiled, stood up, and walked around to the other side of my desk. He held out a hand, and I took it, letting him hoist me up out of his seat. Now that I was also standing, he seemed about five and a half feet tall, and his green eyes looked even more striking now that I was level with them. He smiled at me and gestured for me to start walking. I smiled lightly back at him and started walking.  
  
"So, tell me, Arabella, how good is the food here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the future chapter titles will be in Italian.


	2. due

Perhaps Billie knew how to handle strangers, or knew how to manipulate them, because he did not attempt to make anymore physical contact besides holding out his hand to help me out of his chair. That, or he was just a gentleman, and knew not to push anything too far upon first meeting a girl. I preferred the first explanation, and smiled to myself as I led him across the quadrangle to the dining hall.  
  
"Something amusing, Arabella?" Billie asked.  
  
I looked over at him as we walked away from the class building. "Just thinking," I answered, focusing my attention on what was in front of me in mid-sentence.  
  
"Do you care to tell me what about?"  
  
I smiled to myself, but didn't look back at Billie. "No. Now are we getting breakfast or not?" I asked, stopping in front of the commons building and turning around.  
  
Billie passed behind me to open the door. "After you," he said, motioning inside. I nodded at him and entered, looking back over my shoulder to make sure he got inside. "You never answered my question from earlier."  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"How's the food here?" I looked over at a smiling Billie as we approached the entrance to the dining hall.  
  
I chuckled. "I guess you'll find out," I said, and handed the woman standing at the register my ID card. "Thank you," I said with a smile as I walked in and stood to the side to wait for Billie.  
  
"Thank you," I heard him tell the woman, and smiled as I did as he pocketed his ID card. Time seemed to almost move in slow motion as he smiled, looking genuinely happy. I used to be like that, before..."So, what's good here, Arabella? God, I need to find you a nickname. Do you mind if I test a few out?"  
  
I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me. Holy shit, he was really fucking cute. As in, I don't think I've ever found a guy as attractive as I find Billie upon our first meeting. I then chuckled to myself in my realization of this, and said, "Yeah, sure, you can. You'll know which ones have been used, and which ones I just plain don't like."  
  
Billie smirked. "Alright then. So which direction do we head for some good food? I thought I was gonna be late, so I ran from my dorm on an empty stomach."  
  
"I'm in the mood for a bagel myself, and those are over there, but it you want cereal, it's over there, and you can order an omelette with whatever you want in it over there. And whatever is featured for this morning is right behind you," I told him, pointing in different directions and probably making an idiot out of myself in the near-empty dining hall.  
  
When Billie found me again, sitting down with a partially-eaten bagel and a cup of yogurt, he smiled widely and sat down next to me. "Pancakes!" he said cheerily as he picked up his fork and stabbed through the three-thick stack.  
  
I smiled and looked over at him happily chowing down as I took a bite of my bagel. His mouth full, he looked back over at me. He swallowed some of what was in his mouth, and then smiled to the best of his abilities before swallowing the rest. I chuckled and looked down into my cup of yogurt, the pink hue reminding me a bit of flushed cheeks. "You're cute, I'll give you that," I said to him, looking back over.  
  
Billie smiled even wider this time, and swallowed the mouth of chocolate milk he had before he said, "Thanks, you're quite pretty yourself."  
  
"What does being pretty have to do with being cute? They're like two different aspects of someone."  
  
Billie chuckled. "I suppose. So you're going to refuse my compliment because of that?"  
  
I smirked and felt my cheeks turn a very light shade of pink, probably just enough to be visible, because I heard Billie's small chuckle. "Oh, shush."  
  
"Well are you?"  
  
"No. Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome. I like your kind of pretty. It's different than a lot of girls'."  
  
"Thank you again."  
  
"You're welcome again." I chuckled and there were a few moments of silence while Billie shoved a few more bites of pancake in his mouth, and I took a few bites of my bagel. "So is this place always this empty?" Billie asked after the short silence.  
  
I smiled. "No. It's just because it's nine in the morning, and everyone else is either still asleep or has class at nine and is too lazy to get up early enough to come have breakfast beforehand."  
  
"Oh college life," Billie remarked. "What lazy people it turns us into."  
  
"Yeah, it does tend to do that to the best of us," I added.  
  
"So tell me about you," Billie said, putting his plate aside and looking at me.  
  
My cheeks flushed lightly pink again, and I played with my spoon in my yogurt cup absently. "I have a long story," I said.  
  
Billie chuckled. "You don't need to tell me your life story, I was just looking for superficial details. I need to set a foundation of basic details before I start to get to know you better."  
  
"Oh, well, you know my name, and I told you a lot of people just call me Bellie. I wasn't fond of the nickname at first, but my best friend, Lee, popularized it with the campus community, so I just got used to people calling me by that name. No one's really thought to call me anything else except for you. Which, by the way, I haven't heard anything about yet. You haven't even spit out one nickname, let alone something original," I reminded him.  
  
"Oh yeah," Billie said. "I guess I was just so focused on the food that I didn't really give it much thought. I would think of something now, but I don't want to miss any details you'll be throwing my way. I like to make my foundations as strong as possible." He winked discreetly.  
  
My cheeks flushed for the third time, this time just a shade darker, but it was a much more visible pink in my opinion, making it all the darker. It was a vicious cycle, really. "I'm a sophomore, nineteen, studying Interdisciplinary Arts. Please, ask what that is because everyone I have ever told has," I continued, annoyance entering my tone.  
  
"Alright, what does your major entail?" Billie asked.  
  
"Emphasis in two of four areas: art, theater, writing or music."  
  
"And where are your emphases?"  
  
"Art and music, my two biggest passions in life. I wanna become an illustrator, like for comic books or something cool like that."  
  
"That sounds awesome. Would you do cover art?"  
  
I raised an eyebrow. "Like for books?"  
  
"I was thinking more of album covers."  
  
"Album covers? Like, for CDs?"  
  
"Yeah," Billie said, nodding. "I'm part of a band, and we're looking to put out our first album, but we need someone who can draw up some cover art for us."  
  
"Would I get paid?" I asked, smiling.  
  
Billie laughed. "Would you expect to?"  
  
"Not necessarily, but it would be nice."  
  
"I'll talk to my band members and see what they say. I mean, you are acquainted with me, so I didn't think you would expect payment, but we _did_ just meet, so I guess I can understand why you would say that," Billie said.  
  
"Alright then. You get back to me on that. When's your next class?" I asked.  
  
Billie looked up at the nearest clock. "Hour and a half. You?"  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
"Nine-thirty."  
  
"Hour and a half, but I have work I need to get done for the class I have right after it, so I'll see you around, okay, Billie?" I said, standing up with my dishes.  
  
Billie stood up with his dishes as well. "Yeah. You'll have to show me some of the stuff you've done so I can see if I think you'll be good for the job," he said.  
  
"I guess that comes with getting the position. I'll bring you by my place sometime and you can take a look, okay?"  
  
"Sounds good. See you around, Ella."  
  
"Heard that one before."  
  
"Dammit! Well, it looks like I have some thinking to do," Billie said, smiling.  
  
I smiled back at him. "You go do that. I have work to be done. You have fun figuring out how things work around here," I said as I turned towards the door.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure that'll be a swell time," Billie said sarcastically.  
  
I just chuckled to myself as I continued to walk away.


	3. tre

Two days later, I was sitting in class with my sketchbook, and I was focusing quite intently on the form starting to take shape on the page when I saw a body occupy the seat next to me in my periphery. I thought it was Lee, since the body took Lee's seat, but the voice told me otherwise. "Well, hello, sweetheart," a man's voice greeted.  
  
I scowled and looked over at Billie. "And what happened to not coming on too strong there, Billie?"  
  
Billie raised an eyebrow. "Billie? Who's Billie?"  
  
I snorted. "Don't play games with me, Billie."  
  
"I assure you I have no idea who the hell you're talking about," Billie said.  
  
"Billie, what the fuck?" I asked, slamming down my pencil and looking up at him. What the hell was he playing at?  
  
"Baby doll, could you please stop calling me Billie? The name's Twitch. Reverend Strychnine Twitch," he said, winking. I grimaced. "What's up with you?" he asked, fishing for a pencil in his black messenger bag.  
  
"You're the exact type of guy I absolutely despise," I answered, scowling in his direction. While he may be acting like a different person, he still looked like the same Billie I met on Monday. The same good-looking Billie. I may possibly overlook his deplorable personality for the fact that it's the same body.  
  
"Well I'm sorry to hear that, dear, but you don't have to be around me if you don't want to," Twitch said.  
  
I sighed and picked my pencil up from the floor. I looked over at Twitch as he looked over at me. "Well, the Billie I met two days ago was pretty cool, and you look exactly like him, so I think I'll try and stick around," I told him.  
  
"Miss Fiesco, could you please put away your sketchbook?" Jonsohn called from the front of the room. I groaned and closed my sketchbook, tucking the pencil into the rubber band in the spiral and placing the sketchbook back in my bag. "Thank you. Now, today's lesson will be on Section 4.1, Trigonometric Functions."  
  
Class went by painfully slowly, and at the end, Twitch turned to me. "So what do you say to accompanying me to some breakfast, baby doll?"  
  
Ugh. I tried very hard to hide my second grimace, and looked over at him. "Maybe I might warm up to the idea a little more if I knew you were going to stop calling me all those names," I answered.  
  
"Oh, so you're not into the flattery?" Twitch asked, his face a mask of curiosity.  
  
"No," I said flatly. "I told you in the beginning that you're the type of guy that I absolutely despise, and make a point to completely avoid."  
  
"And then didn't you say something about trying to stick around because I look just like your friend?"  
  
I groaned quietly. "Yes, I did, but you're making that statement hard to stand by."  
  
"I would apologize, but...I'm afraid it would be insincere, and you seem like the type of girl to hate insincerity," Twitch said.  
  
"And you would be correct. There are a lot of things that I despise, and your personality happens to be one of them," I replied icily.  
  
"Calm down, calm down, sweetheart!" Twitch said, holding out his hands in a surrendering motion. "You're turning a breakfast invitation into a confrontation."  
  
"You can blame yourself for that."  
  
"Alright, alright. The invitations still stands, though, and I'm starving. You coming or not?" Twitch asked, standing up out of Lee's seat, walking around to my desk, and offering his hand.  
  
I sat for a moment, looking at Twitch's hand, and told myself that it was the same Billie I met two days ago, it was just a different side of him I hadn't seen. A side that was completely different from the kind, sweet, and charming Billie I had met. It didn't make sense in my mind, so I made a note to ask Billie about it when I saw him next. If he was actually Billie when I saw him next, that is. With a heavy sigh and a feeling that I might regret this later, I gathered my things off the floor next to my desk and took Twitch's hand. "Don't try anything now, lover boy, or I'll be having your ass for breakfast."  
  
"I'll see to it that I keep myself under control," Twitch said with a chuckle. He stood and opened the door of the building that led out into the quadrangle. "After you, m'lady."  
  
I just gave him a questioning look as I walked out. When I heard the door close, I knew Twitch was right behind me; I didn't need to look to make sure as I did with Billie.


	4. quattro

So maybe Twitch wasn't _all_ bad. Once he quit his flattery, he really wasn't as terrible as I stereotype all guys like him to be. That doesn't mean I like him or anything, he's just much more tolerable that way. After spending breakfast with him, I learned that he's also in a band, like Billie, in which he sings. He also invited me to his next show, and told me that he can get me a backstage pass. He then winked which made me just scowl at him. He still has a lot of learning to do on limits, especially with me.  
  
The next day, I didn't see Twitch, which I was kind of thankful for, honestly. I did, however, see Billie. At least, it looked like Billie. At this point, I really couldn't be sure. I watched him as he came closer to me; he was on his phone, most likely texting someone. He looked up almost as soon as I started watching him, and he saw me. It took him a second to register who I was, but then he smiled at me and stopped when we crossed paths. "Hey, Bella," he said.  
  
"Heard that one before, too, Billie," I said.  
  
"Dammit! Today is just not my day."  
  
"Well I'm sorry to hear that. How are you otherwise?" I asked, smiling lightly.  
  
"Great! I'm finding my way round pretty well, and I've met some pretty cool-sounding people," he answered.  
  
"That's awesome to hear, Billie," I said, my smile wider, and more genuine.  
  
"So where are you headed?" Billie asked.  
  
I held up the piece of folded notebook paper in my hand. "I'm off to mail a letter to my sister back home."  
  
"Ah, I see. You like to stay close with her?" Billie asked.  
  
"She's my younger sister, and she's in juvy right now. We only correspond by letters because that's the only way we can talk to each other, and she knows that no one else is going to take the time to write a letter except for me, so she asked me in the first letter she sent me from juvy," I briefly explained.  
  
Billie's eyes widened as I told him the story. "Holy shit, juvy? How old is she?"  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
"And what's she there for?"  
  
"Prostitution."  
  
"What the fuck?"  
  
"This undercover cop found her on a street corner all dressed down and shit, and she tried to seduce him, and she got caught and was sent to juvy. Not that anyone in my family was surprised; my sister's been a whore since she was, like, ten."  
  
"Well shit. You're definitely much more than meets the eye, there, Belle," Billie said.  
  
I thought for a moment. I then smiled and nodded toward him. "Good one," I said.  
  
"Fuck, really?" Billie asked, excited.  
  
"I'm pretty sure no one has called me Belle before."  
  
"Fuck yes! Thank you for giving me today's first win, Belle, it was greatly appreciated," Billie said, smiling widely. "I would give you a hug, but there's my whole thing about not being too forward."  
  
I chuckled and I felt my cheeks burn a little. Dammit, what _is_ it about Billie that makes me blush so much?? I felt like I could trust him, though. There was just something about him that made him seem so innocent and trustworthy, and able to keep a secret, which was definitely a quality that I looked for extensively in a friend, and a boyfriend. My thoughts had just started to get away from me when I remembered about Twitch, and how much he looked like Billie. I was about to ask him about Twitch, when my brain decided to make my mouth ask something completely different entirely. "Hey, when I mail this letter, do you wanna come back to my place and check out out some of the work that I've done?"  
  
Billie didn't even hesitate. "Yeah, definitely. I was just about to ask you about that, actually," he answered, chuckling lightly.  
  
He turned around and he followed me to the mail center, us talking about my art on the way there. When I was filling out the envelope, I was actually impressed he was standing next to me instead of behind me, like I'm sure Twitch and the rest of the male population would have done. I don't care how crazy I thought my thoughts about boyfriends right now were, Billie was definitely a contender, hands down.  
  
On the way back to my house, Billie started walking towards the big residence hall that was behind the commons, and I said, "Billie? Where are you going?"  
  
He looked over at me, confused. "Your place?"  
  
"No, Billie, I don't live in there."  
  
"You don't?" he asked, turning around. "Then where do you live?"  
  
I pointed in the direction of my house. "This way."  
  
Billie jogged back over to where I had stopped. "Lead the way, Belle."  
  
"Okay, calm down Billie, you're gonna wear that out and make me hate it," I warned.  
  
"Oh, alright, alright. Are we going to your house?" Billie asked impatiently.  
  
"It's right here." I pointed to the door of my building that we were standing in front of.  
  
"Whoa! There are houses back here?" Billie exclaimed.  
  
I laughed. "Yes, Billie, there are. Welcome to the back corner of campus, newbie. I live here, along with another good chunk of the campus community."  
  
"Well shit. I guess I still had some things to learn about the campus," Billie said.  
  
I opened the door to my building, and gestured for Billie to walk inside. He shook his head, took the door from me, and gestured for _me_ to go inside. I chuckled and walked inside, walking up the stairs and pulling my keys out of my back pocket. When I reached my apartment door, I looked down over the railing to see Billie coming up the stairs. I waited for him to stop right behind me, and I looked up at him when he did. "Welcome to my humble abode. Please ignore the decoration on the living room wall; I had nothing to do with it."  
  
Billie chuckled. "Alright. Are there any decorations you have something to do with?"  
  
I chuckled softly at the awkwardness of the statement. "Only the decorations in my room. Sometimes I have these little shows of my art and stuff in my house, and I ask people to leave comments on index cards which pieces they thought were the best, so I hung those up around my room," I briefly explained.  
  
Billie grinned. "That's really awesome, Belle!"  
  
I smiled. "Thanks. I love art; it really is one of my biggest passions in life."  
  
"Good thing you're studying it then," Billie remarked.  
  
I just giggled. I then tried the doorknob; it was still locked from when I left this morning. I put my key in the lock and turned it, bracing my shoulder against the door and pushing to open it. I held it open for Billie and he walked in. He looked around and looked relatively impressed by how clean I keep the place, and then his eyes fixed on the far wall. "I see why you made the comment about the wall," he said, looking at me and pointing at it.  
  
I blew out through my nose. "Yeah. The girls I live with put that up. I think they're partial alcoholics; there's almost always some sort of alcohol in our fridge."  
  
"Sounds like my type of fridge. Except there's usually just cheap beer in my fridge," Billie said.  
  
"Cheap beer? Saving your pennies for something?"  
  
"Yeah, actually. I want to get a tattoo soon."  
  
"Yeah? Well alright then. Certainly need to be saving your pennies for that." Billie chuckled. He then pointed down the hallway with a cocked eyebrow. "Oh yeah, let's go." We took a small trip down the long, narrow hallway and I stuck my key into the locked door. I turned the handle and slowly opened the door, exposing the multiple pieces of artwork up on my walls.  
  
Billie looked around in awe when we entered the room. "Shit, Arabella, this is amazing!"  
  
My cheeks flushed bright pink and I hung my head, not wanting him to see. "Thanks," I mumbled.  
  
Billie walked up to one of the pieces on the wall that I saw he had spent more time looking at than all the others. "Wow, Belle, this is beautiful. I've never seen so much detail!" he exclaimed. He the turned to me and saw I was staring at the floor. "Belle?" he called.  
  
I looked up hesitantly because my cheeks were still a very noticeable shade of pink. "Yeah?"  
  
Billie then grinned. "Aw, did I embarrass you with all my compliments?"  
  
I giggled. "Yeah, kind of a lot. I've never had that much of a positive reaction before." I peeked behind Billie to see what particular piece he was praising. "Oh, you like the Gibson portrait?" Billie nodded furiously, the grin still on his face. "My best friend dragged me out to a party at her boyfriend's townhouse here on campus, and I had wandered upstairs to use the bathroom and I didn't want to go back downstairs, so I wandered into the room with the open door and saw a beautiful blue Gibson sitting in front of an amp in the corner of the room. I immediately went and found Lee's boyfriend and asked if I could come back with my sketchpad and pencils, so two days later I showed up at Lee's boyfriend's house again and I went back for three weeks sketching his guitar. When I finished the sketch, I thanked him greatly for allowing me to be there all the time, and then came back home and spent the next two weeks secluded in my room coloring it to perfection. So when I had my next show, I personally invited Lee's boyfriend to come see the portrait, and he just spent, like, a half hour fucking _staring_ at it. I watched him for a good five minutes, and his eyes were roaming all over the details. When the show was over, he sought me out and he talked to me for about five straight minutes about how honored he was to have such a beautiful portrait of his guitar. He even asked me if he could have the portrait, but I told him that I don't give away my work to anyone ever, so he just took out his phone and snapped a picture of it. He comes over now and again just to admire it. It was one of my proudest moments as an artist."  
  
"Well, that has me convinced," Billie said.  
  
"Convinced of what?" I asked.  
  
"Convinced that you're the perfect person for the cover art job."  
  
I grinned. "Thanks, Billie, that actually means a lot."  
  
Billie smiled back at me and walked over to me. He then actually leaned down a slight bit and gave me a hug. I was a bit startled at first, but then I wrapped my arms around Billie in return. "You're welcome," Billie said as he pulled away. What startled me much more than the hug though, was when Billie _very_ lightly kissed my cheek as he straightened. I gasped, put my hand to the spot on my cheek, and looked up at him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.  
  
This was the moment of truth. This was the moment when I either accepted or rejected Billie and changed our relationship forever. I smiled lightly and took a step closer to him. I can't believe what I was about to do, because it really wasn't like me to do anything like this. "Don't be," I whispered back.  
  
Billie now took a step closer to me, and was looking down at me, meeting my gaze with his. Our eye contact didn't break as I felt Billie's hand come up and lightly cup my chin. I could feel my heart racing, and I was hardly able to control my breathing. I saw Billie's face come in closer to mine steadily, and my brain was screaming. I was going insane just for a kiss.  
  
When Billie's lips finally touched mine, I literally jumped. He pulled back, thinking he was making the wrong move, but a barely audible "No" came out on my next exhale and Billie pushed his lips back against mine, more firmly. His lips were so soft, making me kiss him back. We kissed once, twice, three times before Billie pulled back. "Wow," he whispered.  
  
I chuckled nervously. "Yeah," I whispered back.  
  
Billie kissed me one more time before stepping back and dropping his hand from my chin. Now, he took my hand and just held it. "That was unexpected," he said, louder than a whisper now.  
  
I just shook my head, smiling and biting my lip, unable to form coherent words without whispering.  
  
Nothing would be the same between us now.


	5. cinque

I saw Billie the nest day in class. It didn't really look like him, though; he was wearing this ski-mask-type thing on his head with the top, eyes, and mouth cut out. The mask had a black-and-white striped pattern.  
  
I just stared at him for a second as he sat down. He was also wearing a shiny orange suit, but he didn't have a tie on. "Billie?"  
  
His head snapped over to look at me at the quiet call of what I assumed to still be his name. He hadn't mentioned anything about a name change yesterday or any other day, so I don't know why this Billie look-alike wasn't responding to the call of his name. "Are you talking to me?" he asked. I merely nodded. I normally wouldn't be so shy, but given the circumstances of my current relationship with Billie, I didn't give a verbal reply. "Well, my name's Fink," the masked Billie look-alike continued.  
  
"Fink?" I repeated, confused.  
  
He nodded. "Yeah. Like 'think,' expect with an f, and not a th."  
  
"Okay," I said simply. I turned back to my miniature cartoon doodles in the margin of my notebook. I overslept quite significantly, so I had no time to grab my sketchbook or drawing pencils. I seemed to be working the shading pretty well with the mechanical one I had, though.  
  
Jonsohn walked in and stopped for a second when he put his books down on the front table. "Fiesco, you don't have your sketchbook today," he called. I looked up and just glared at him. It was too early for criticism, and I was in an unfavorable mood. "This morning's lesson will be on section 5.3, Inverse Functions."  
  
"You always carry a sketchbook?" Fink asked quietly.  
  
I turned to him shyly. "Yeah. I draw a lot."  
  
A small smile came across his face, and he nodded, as if he were impressed. "Cool. What kind of stuff do you draw?"  
  
"A lot of portraits. People and things."  
  
"Also cool." I chuckled softly. "Do you do album art?" Fink asked.  
  
I smiled lightly. "Yeah, but only because someone's asked me to do a cover for their band's album."  
  
"Dammit! My band and I are looking for a album artist because we want to release our first album. It's all recorded and awesome, we just need an equally awesome album cover to accompany it," Fink explained briefly.  
  
"Well, maybe you should come check out some of the work I've done before you go deciding I'm the one you want to hire," I suggested.  
  
Fink shook his head. "It's a nice offer, but I don't need to."  
  
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You don't?"  
  
Fink shook his head again. "Nope."  
  
I paused. "Why?"  
  
"Because if someone's already hired you, that means you must be pretty good," he said.  
  
I blushed a light pink and smiled lightly again. "Thanks."  
  
"Yeah. You let me know when you're available again, okay?"  
  
"Yeah," I said after a moment's hesitation. "I will."  
  
"Cool, thanks," Fink said, and shot me a quick smile before turning to his notebook and frantically scribbling down the notes on the board he wasn't paying attention to before they got erased and written over by new material.  
  
We didn't speak for the rest of the class. I kept looking over at Fink, because I wanted to tell him how he look uncannily like the guy I was kissing in my dorm room yesterday afternoon, but he never looked back over at me.  
  
"See you around," Fink said to me as he was leaving. Scribbling down the last of the notes, I didn't realize he was speaking to me. "Hey." I stopped my pencil and looked up. "See you around," Fink repeated.  
  
"Yeah," I replied, smiling weakly. When I saw he had left the room, I sighed deeply. I really wanted to see Billie, mainly because I wanted to talk to him about the events of yesterday afternoon, but I didn't know where on campus he lived, so I just had to wait until our next math class and hope he's there.  
  
My loudly growling stomach snapped me out of my little depressed reverie. I looked down at it quickly, and then resumed packing up my books. It growled again, still very loudly, and I was thankful no one was left in here to hear it. I looked back down at my stomach as I shoved the last book into my messenger bag, and said, "Shut up, I know, I know," as I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder. "Can you hold on for five more minutes?"


	6. sei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What skeletons are hidden in your closet?"

I needed to find Billie.  Billie.  Not the asshole-look-alike or the orange-suited look-alike, I wanted to see _Billie_.  My biggest problem was, though, that I didn't know where on campus he lived.  The next biggest problem was that I didn't want him coming over here, because my housemates would question who he is since they've never seen anyone coming over to talk to me, and because I don't want him to know that I want to talk to him.  
  
I know.  It sounds counter-productive, but I want to catch him off-guard, so I know if he's making up these people that look like him or not.  Or something.  
  
While I'm making a list of my problems, I might as well add the problem that I don't want to, like, stalk him or something to figure out where he lives, and the problem that I don't know anyone else he knows besides me, so I can't ask _them_ if _they_ know where he lives.  
  
Fuck.  I think this is why I never wanted a relationship again after...after...oh God, I can't even think his name!  I'm still so fucked up from him, I don't know if I even want to go looking for Billie anymore, but I don't want to leave this...thing we have hanging off a cliff.  It's either I push the thing off the edge and it's dead, or I pull it up off the cliff and see what happens.  I'm really scared to pull it up off the cliff, though, even if my cursory experiences with Billie lead me to believe he's a good guy and all.  
  
Fuck.  Again.  Emotions and I never mixed well after...him.  Maybe Billie brings change, though.  Maybe college is gonna bring change now.  A lot of people hate change, and hate having to adjust to it, but I am kinda desperate for change right now.  For me, change would be good.  Change would actually be excellent.  
  
-\\\\\\-  
  
I was walking back from my English class at the furthest point possible from my house, of course, because this school seems to be trying to send me the message that I need to get more exercise, and I saw a mop of shaggy black hair inserting a key into the front door of one of the townhouses by the laundry building.  So that's where he lives.  The next problem I have is that I don't know which room his is, so I don't want to walk into a house and ask some random dude which room Billie lives in.  And I'm even more fucked if he has a roommate, because this is a very private matter.  I'm a very private person, anyway.  
  
I have a ten-page paper to start on for my English class, so I figured I'd casually ask if Billie has a roommate, and if he tends to leave or stick around on weekends.  I didn't have time to go waltzing in there right now.  Also, I need to figure out if Billie himself stays on campus on weekends.  I should probably figure that out first.  Luckily for me, it was Wednesday, so it certainly wasn't too early to be asking about weekend plans.  
  
As I continued to walk back home, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I looked behind me and saw Billie walking past and he smiled when I caught his eye.  I smiled back, weakly, and watched him for a moment as he continued his hurried walking to...wherever he's going.  Whatever.  I have a hot date with a very long English paper.  
  
-\\\\\\-  
  
About three pages into the paper, my computer announces to me that's it's six o'clock.  Glancing up at the clock in the corner, I figured I would go grab some dinner before the dining hall closes at seven, and then come back to work on my paper.  Setting my computer on my desk and stretching as I stood, I patted my back pockets to check for my keys and my phone, and locked my bedroom door and the front door to the apartment as I left.  
  
I smiled lightly as I left my apartment building and the sun was low in the sky, casting simultaneous beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and purple.  This would be a great scene to paint if I actually had paints.  And an easel.  And a definite scene where no academic buildings or residence halls are in the picture.  I might as well forget it, then.  
  
Seeing as I didn't have the habit of looking for people in the dining hall when I entered, mainly because there's no one I ever really want to talk to while I'm eating, I didn't notice Billie sitting at a table close to the grill station.  "Belle!" he called out over the din of other dining students.  Because I knew only Billie called me by that nickname, I took a deep breath and tried not to make it too obvious that his calling out his personal nickname for me makes me freeze.  I turned around with a shy smile on my face as I walked the few steps to where Billie was sitting.  "Hey!" he said, smiling widely.  
  
"Hi, Billie."  
  
"How are you?" he asked casually.  
  
I really wanted to just cut to the chase; I was absolute shit at beating around the bush.  "Billie...Can we please just skip the formalities?"  
  
Billie's smile faded off his face in recognition of what I really wanted to talk about.  "Yeah...I guess."  There was a moment of silence when Billie paused.  "I know what you really want to talk about, Arabella," he said, serious now.  
  
"Well that's good," I said.  "I would consider it a pain in the ass if I had to explain it to you."  
  
He chuckled lightly as he looked down at the food he had left on his plate.  When he looked back up at me, his face was serious again.  "I don't want to talk about it here, though.  How about you come back to my place after dinner?" he suggested.  
  
"Do you have a roommate?" I asked.  Billie nodded.  "Will he be there when we get back?"  Billie shrugged.  "Well, I don't want to constantly have to worry about being interrupted."  
  
"So do you want to talk at your house?" Billie asked.  
  
"I don't have a roommate, so I would feel better."  
  
"What about the rest of your house?"  
  
"What about them?"  
  
"What if they come in or something, and it becomes too loud for us to talk?"  
  
"Then I guess we'll go to your place."  
  
"What if my roommate's there?"  
  
"I don't know, Billie!  That's kind of your problem, not mine!" I snapped.  
  
Billie sat back, instantly quieted.  A few moments later he leaned forward again, but only to finish eating what was left of his dinner.  When he didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, I looked at him, but he didn't look back up right away.  I kept looking at him until he looked back up at me.  "What?" he asked, making it obvious that I pissed him off.  
  
I sighed, my face softening from annoyed to vulnerable.  "I'm sorry," I murmured, looking down as soon as my mouth closed.  
  
Billie continued to be quiet.  When he spoke, he said, "It's okay.  This must be a very...personal matter to you."  
  
I nodded.  "Indeed it is."  
  
"Do you think your housemates will come in tonight?" Billie asked timidly.  
  
"I don't know.  They're very unpredictable."  
  
"Well why don't we just go back to your place after this, then?" Billie suggested.  
  
"That's fine with me."  
  
We were silent for most of the rest of dinner, and on the way back to my apartment.  The first words spoken were by Billie, and only when we were settled in my room, with all the doors locked.  "So," he said.  
  
"So," I said back.  "You said you knew what I wanted to talk about?"  
  
Billie nodded.  "Yeah.  We haven't seen each other since..." - Billie sighed - "...since we kissed."  
  
My cheeks involuntarily heated up; I could feel them.  "I know.  I've been wanting to talk to you since this morning."  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't be found this morning, I had a lot of work to do for my French class this morning.  We had a test that I had to make up and I didn't remember until midnight, so I only got three hours of sleep," Billie explained.  
  
"You seem very awake," I remarked.  
  
Billie chuckled.  "Yeah, I had three cups of coffee, too."  
  
I nodded at him.  "Well that explains that.  Now..."  
  
Billie sighed.  "Yes.  I think you should go first."  
  
I gave him a quizzical look, but he just nodded, so I crossed my legs and faced him.  "Billie, I want to let you know that I've been avoiding relationships since my very first day of college."  I took a deep breath and willed myself not to cry.  "I was in a really bad spot in my life when I entered high school.  My dad had just left my mom, and my older sister was refusing to go into rehab for drug abuse, and my mom just broke down and started drinking, and I didn't know where to turn, so when the first chance came to have an escape from all of that, I took it.  As I got older, things started getting better in my family: my parents made amends, but aren't together anymore; my sister finally went into rehab; my mom began to curb her drinking; but things didn't get any better for me.  Actually, they got worse.  Since things were tremendously better in my family, I was beginning to find myself again, and I wanted to separate from the boy that I had met - the one that I thought was my escape from my shitty family problems - but he didn't want to separate from me.  Every time I told him I wanted to try and see other people, or that I just didn't want to be with him anymore..." - I took a deep breath - "...and he started to beat me."  
  
Billie put a hand over his mouth for a moment, then took the hand that wasn't wiping my face in both of his.  "Belle...!"  
  
I was freely crying now.  "I know, I know, and the worst part is that I didn't tell anyone.  When my mom saw the bruises on my face and my arms, I just told her I was getting in a lot of fights.  When it continued to happen, my mom made me tell her that...my boyfriend was beating me because I found him when I was at a bad spot in my life, and now I was getting better and I didn't want to be with him anymore, and my mom - God bless her - she got me separated from him.  She got a restraining order put on him so he couldn't work with me in school, or come find me after school, or he would be put in juvy.  Ever since I came to school, I've avoided close relationships with anyone, regardless.  That's why I have so many portraits on my walls.  That's why I always carry a sketchbook.  That's why I consider Lee my only real friend, because she is the only person that actually _understands_ what I've been through, since she's been through something similar."  I began to cry harder, becoming slightly incomprehensible.  I felt Billie squeeze my hand tightly as I continued.  "And I'm really confused and emotional right now because I never do anything like what I did the other day when I kissed you, and I really like you, Billie, I really do, but I'm scared, Billie, I'm really fucking scared!  I don't wanna get hurt again!"  
  
Billie didn't say a word; he just grabbed my shoulders and brought me close to him, hugging me tight as I cried harder than I've ever cried into Billie's shoulder, because he has been only the second person outside of my family that I've told anything about my past.  I'm not sure how long it had been before my crying had started to subside, but I finally brought my head up from Billie's shoulder and looked at him.  "Arabella, I have something to tell you as well," Billie said solemnly.  
  
I wiped my eyes again and sniffled.  "Yeah, what skeletons are hidden in your closet?" I asked.  
  
Billie chuckled and kissed my forehead, making me blush much harder than it would if I wasn't in such a vulnerable state.  He smiled at me, wiping at the fresh tears that were running down my red cheeks, then took a deep breath and said, "I have a disorder."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I have a psychological disorder.  It's called DID, which stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder," Billie explained.  
  
I sat back slightly and took Billie's hand lightly in mine.  "So what does that mean?"  
  
Billie smiled lightly and briefly, then squeezed my hand.  My cheeks flared red for a moment; I hadn't noticed he noticed that I had taken his hand.  "It's also called Multiple Personality Disorder."  
  
"Oh.  So those people I met that look like you...really are you?"  
  
Billie nodded.  "I was diagnosed when I was fifteen.  Fink was actually prevalent before Twitch was, and it was when Twitch appeared that my parents got me seen by a psychiatrist."  
  
"So you know the other two...personalities...exist?" I asked.  
  
Billie nodded.  "And I remember what they do when I'm back as me.  As Billie," he said.  
  
I nodded slowly, then sighed.  "Okay," I said simply.  
  
"Arabella, I don't tell many girls this because they usually run away from me.  They can't handle it.  They always feel like they're cheating on me because there's more than one me."  Billie took both my hands and looked me in the eye.  "Belle, I want you to be my girlfriend."  
  
I gasped loudly and pursed my lips tightly together, my face betraying my mind to show my mask of pure fear.  "Billie...," I whispered, biting my bottom lip nervously.  
  
"Arabella.  Listen to me.  I understand you've been hurt in the past, I've been hurt too.  But I really like you, too, Belle, and I can respect you've been hurt very badly if you can respect the fact that I'm not like other guys.  There's more than one of me, so I hope you could be willing to deal with that, and I'll deal with the fact that you've been hurt."  
  
I smiled, started crying again, and leaned in to kiss Billie.  When I pulled away, I took Billie's face in both my hands and kept his face very close to mine.  "Billie Joe Armstrong."  
  
He smiled and put one of his hands over mine.  "Arabella Fiesco."  
  
"I'm willing to deal with all the shit that comes with being with you, Billie, because I want to," I said.  Billie pulled me forward and kissed me sweetly.  "Billie.  Come on.  You can be a little more emotional than that."  
  
He just grinned and kissed me passionately, sneakily nipping at my bottom lip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't want to brag, but i think that the scene between Arabella and Billie towards the end of this chapter is the best writing have done emotionally.


	7. sette

The next day, I skipped my first class of my college career. Billie stayed over my apartment last night after our emotional exchange and we just cuddled and chatted and stole kisses. I also let Billie watch me sketch the hard drive on my desk because he wouldn't let me sketch him, even after I asked him about fifteen times. Oh, and once we blasted music off my computer because my housemates came home and were getting rowdy while drinking out in the living room.  
  
Both of us ignored our alarms for pre-calc this morning and went back to bed. I didn't have class until eleven, and Billie didn't have class until one in the afternoon, so we decided to sleep in. I woke up first. I tried to stretch, as I usually did when I awoke, but I jostled Billie, whom I forgot was sleeping next to me, and he groaned in protest. I chuckled. "Sorry, I'm not used to waking up in a death grip."  
  
I assumed he tried to chuckle, but it just came out as a high-pitched groan in his groggy state. "What time is it?" he murmured.  
  
I reached across my desk to grab my phone, and Billie groaned again as I did so. "Calm down, lover boy, I had to reach my phone," I said, looking at the screen. "It's nine am."  
  
Billie groaned yet again, for what I think was the fourth time. "Why are you awake?" he whined, rolling onto his back and taking his arm from around me to rub his eyes.  
  
"It's called an internal alarm clock, Billie," I said.  
  
"Hmph. Well I don't wanna be awake."  
  
"You don't have to be. But I'm going to get up and shower and then go to breakfast. You can shower here if you like if you want to come to breakfast with me," I said.  
  
I saw Billie's eyes open and look at me. He smiled lightly and rolled back on his side to kiss me. I smiled and rolled over onto my side to face him better. We kissed for a few minutes, and then Billie decided to be a sneaky bastard and bite my bottom lip. I pulled back and looked at him. "Now, now, don't get too carried away there."  
  
He sighed and rolled onto his back, but there was a smile on his face. "Aww, Belle, that's no fair."  
  
I chuckled and pried myself away from Billie's other arm. "That's a privilege you'll have to earn, Billie," I said, and sat up, finally able to stretch. I arched my back, making it crack, and Billie poked my belly, making me instantly fold inward. "I hate you."  
  
Billie laughed. "No you don't. Now go shower. I'm gonna go back to sleep."  
  
I chuckled and stood up, bending over to kiss Billie's cheek. I made to stand up again, but Billie pulled my face back towards his and kissed me again. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.  
  
I kissed him again, despite my blush. "Thank you," I whispered back, and kissed him one last time before I stood back up and went rummaging through my wardrobe.  
  
There was a moment of silence, and I thought Billie had fallen back asleep, but then he said, "I don't think I've ever noticed how nice your ass is."  
  
It was then I realized this wasn't Billie. At least, not anymore. If it was Billie telling me this, I would have chuckled, but since this wasn't Billie, I just smiled and said, "Thanks," and turned to him. "Now what do you think I should wear today? And no clothes isn't an option, sorry."  
  
Who I assumed was Twitch snapped his fingers in exaggerated disappointment. "Well damn. At least it was worth a shot. But, uhm, do you have anything pink?" he asked.  
  
I wrinkled my nose. "No way!"  
  
He chuckled. "What's the closest you have?"  
  
"Blood red."  
  
"Oh, that's actually better. Lemme see it," Twitch said, propping himself up slightly on the pillows I had abandoned.  
  
I rolled my eyes playfully and pulled the top down off the coat hanger. I turned around and showed to Twitch and his eyes widened. "That would probably look a lot better on the floor than on you, but wear it first before I decide to rip it off of you," he said.  
  
"Don't be a pig. Besides, I know how to fight you off, Twitch."  
  
He sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll just have to get you to take it off yourself."  
  
I laughed and picked a pair of jeans off the shelf in my wardrobe. I threw them on the bed by Twitch's feet and closed the doors to my wardrobe. "Kick those off, and I kill you," I said, pointing to them.  
  
He smiled. "Alright, alright! I'm going back to sleep, anyway."  
  
"Not if you want breakfast, you're not." Twitch groaned. "Well, do you want breakfast, or don't you?" I prodded.  
  
"I want sleep!" Twitch murmured.  
  
"Okay, well I'm leaving after I get dressed, so it's ill-advised to stay around," I said, pulling my towel off of the back of my desk chair.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll leave with you. Can I just get a little more sleep, please?"  
  
I chuckled and walked over to him, bending down to kiss his cheek. I saw him smile, but his eyes were closed; he'd be out in a few minutes. I smiled to myself and opened the door to my bedroom, walking into the bathroom and clicking the light on. "Holy shit," I muttered to myself as I looked in the mirror.  
  
I ran a hand through my hair in disbelief. "Fucking hell. Twitch and Billie must really like me to still find this attractive." I took a breath, stretched again by arching my back, hearing it crack a couple times, and stood back up, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not really sure where this is going right now. this and the next couple chapters are gonna be cute little fillers like this, probs, until i figure out the next big thing.


	8. otto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> character development! and a plot twist!

Billie and I were walking back to my dorm with ice cream from the dining hall when I felt my phone vibrate from my back pocket. "Hey, hold this real quick," I said hurriedly to Billie, who let go of his spoon, which was still in his mouth, and took my bowl as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I didn't recognize the number, so I felt even more obliged to answer it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Arabella, is that you?"  
  
I stopped dead, and Billie tripped over the raised sidewalk as he stopped abruptly. "Tane?"  
  
"How sweet, you remember me!"  
  
"How did you get my number?" I demanded, my voice slightly raised.  
  
"I have my ways; surely, you must remember those, too," Tane said.  
  
"You don't get to fucking say another word about that, okay?" I spat.  
  
"Oh, Arabella, calm down, I just wanted to say hello after all this time. How have you been? What are you up to these days?" Tane asked. I didn't reply. "Oh, come on, Arabella, could I at least get an answer from you?"  
  
"Can I hang up after I give them to you?" I asked nastily.  
  
"Oh, alright. So how have you been? What are you up to these days?" Tane repeated.  
  
"I've been shitty, Tane. You seriously scarred me after all you put me through, on top of what I was going through at the time. You _not_ letting me go was the worst thing that could've happened to me after all that I had just finished dealing with. And I built some pretty fucking tall walls around myself for the next couple years. As for now, I'm in my sophomore year of college, studying interdisciplinary arts, my little sister is in jail for prostitution, and I've actually found someone who can deal with my baggage as well as I can deal with his." There was silence from Tane's end and I smiled smugly.  
  
"Well," Tane said curtly. "You've found someone else, you said?"  
  
"Yes," I replied.  
  
"Well," Tane repeated. "That's great."  
  
I could tell that he didn't mean it, but I just said "Thank you" and didn't even bother to hear what other bullshit he wanted to spew at me as I hung up. I stood where I was for another moment more as I returned my phone to my back pocket, ignoring it when it vibrated again.  
  
I looked over at Billie and noticed his spoon was still in his mouth. I smiled and pulled it out, leaning in and giving him a small kiss. He smiled when I pulled away and handed me back my half-melted bowl of ice cream in a wordless question. I took it back and ate what wasn't already soup; when we were by the door to my apartment building, I slurped back what had turned to soup and threw the bowl in the trash. Billie chuckled and kissed away the small mustache the melted ice cream had left behind and then kissed me before opening the door. I smiled at him and ran up the stairs to grab my computer and English notebook to bring back to Billie's. I was going to spend my first night at Billie's apartment tonight.  
  
I came back outside and smiled at Billie right before I gave him another small kiss. He smiled back at me and held out his hand for me to take. "Ready, Belle?" he asked brightly.  
  
I smiled at him again and took his hand. "Ready, Billie," I replied, and we walked back across campus to Billie's dorm, hand in hand. For the first time in what felt like many, many years, I actually felt happy.  
  
-\\\\\\-  
  
I had partially figured out which personalities Billie was on certain days. Really, the only thing I had figured out was that Billie was Billie every other day. Whether he was Twitch or Fink on the other days, I hadn't quite figured out the pattern yet. And, strangely, I was starting to _want_ to figure out the pattern. It was almost as if I was actually letting myself get attached to someone. I physically stopped moving when the realization hit me, and my hand was ripped from Billie's as he continued to walk.  
  
"Belle?" Billie asked, turning around and walking back to where I stopped, frozen. He waved his hand in front of my face. "Arabella."  
  
I shook my head to clear away the remains of my stupor and looked at Billie briefly before looking at the ground, both of our feet clad in black Converse hi-tops. "Sorry," I muttered, looking back up at Billie and trying to give him a convincing smile. I pushed past him and sped toward his dorm, opening the door on a budding party in the miniature living room. All the guys huddled on the couches and against the walls stared at me as I shoved through them all and into Billie's room.  
  
"Who was that?" I heard one of them ask.  
  
"I'm guessing that's Bill's girl," I heard another guy answer.  
  
"It's Billie. And leave her alone," I heard Billie say as I reached his bedroom door. He was smart and he locked his bedroom door whenever he left his house, so I just turned the doorknob futilely and waited for Billie to come and unlock it. He did a few moments later, and I just tried not to cry or anything else until we got inside.  
  
When Billie ushered me in and shut and locked his door behind him, he turned to me and raised an eyebrow. I just looked at the floor and took a deep breath, letting the realization really set in, so I could actually try to figure out whether to accept or reject the realization. "Belle, sweetheart, are you okay? Why did you just stop walking ten feet outside my house?"  
  
I took another deep breath, and it was a few seconds before I looked up at Billie. I sighed right before I spoke, and then finally said, quietly, "Billie, that was my ex-boyfriend that called me this evening when we were leaving dinner."  
  
He nodded. "Okay." I could tell he didn't quite understand the magnitude of the situation.  
  
"Billie, that was the ex-boyfriend I told you about," I said.  
  
I saw the realization dawn on his face. "Oh! The night that I asked you to be my girlfriend," Billie added.  
  
I nodded. "Billie, he's found me."  
  
Billie looked at me questionably. "He only has your phone number."  
  
"Billie, you have no idea what kind of things he is capable of. He will find me."  
  
Billie placed his hands on my shoulders. "Arabella, I promise you I will not let this crazy asshole or any other crazy assholes hurt you, okay?" I smiled weakly and Billie leaned in to kiss me sweetly.  
  
I kissed him back, and then he kissed me a little fiercer. I smiled against his lips and pushed him back against the metal frame of his bed. "Can you protect yourself, though?" I asked sultrily.  
  
Billie just bit his bottom lip seductively and went to lean in for a kiss, but instead just took my bottom lip between his teeth.


	9. nove

It had been a week since the phone call from Tane, and just yesterday I had finally moved it to the back of my mind. I was working vigorously on my research paper for my English class, when there was a knock on my bedroom door.  
  
Now who the hell was that? Billie and I had agreed on dinner at six (well, Twitch and I), and Lee knows just to walk right in if the door's unlocked. Unless that's a school admin...  
  
There was another knock on the door, so I put my computer on the bed next to me and got up to answer my door, as there was a third set of knocks. "Calm down, calm down," I muttered.  
  
I froze on the spot and my eyes popped.  
  
"Sorry, Bella, sweetheart, but I've knocked on a lot of door looking for you," Tane said. He gestured into my room. "Aren't you going to invite me inside?"  
  
I remained frozen and said nothing.  
  
Tane, being the asshole he is, just pushed past me into my room. He smiled and took a deep breath, looking around. "This is nice, Bella! They have double beds here?" he said conversationally.  
  
Out of my stupor, I quietly shut the door and turned around to face Tane. He was smiling widely at me, as if he had completely forgotten what he did to me; or he just thought of it differently, which would make him stupider than I thought he could be.  
  
"How did you find me?" I asked finally.  
  
"I asked around," Tane answered. He took a step closer, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Like I said, I have my ways."  
  
Then he winked.  
  
Then I punched him in the face.  
  
Tane's hand shot up to his nose, which was bleeding. When he saw the blood, he looked up at me and bent over, with a face of both disgust and shock. "What?" he sputtered.  
  
I stalked up to him and didn't bend down to his face. "Tane, you are an asshole. Do you not remember what I was like when we met in high school? I was a wreck and you were my escape for it all. That's it. But you never realized that and trapped me, like a fly in a web when I tried to leave you. So my escape became my trap. The roles were reversed." I then leaned down to Tane's level, where he was still bent over with his hand over his bloody nose.  
  
"I could prattle on for days, yell at you for hours about how you destroyed my life, made me completely incapable of letting anyone get close to me, and about the military-grade walls I built around myself, but..." I stood up again. "I won't. So get out."  
  
Tane stood up slowly, bringing down his hand from his nose just to check for blood again. He muttered some small swear words under his breath, and stepped towards the closed door as slowly as he had stood up.  
  
I turned in a slow circle, watching him move across the room like a snail; then I thought of something. "Tane," I said.  
  
He hung on the doorknob and turned back to me. "What?" he panted.  
  
"Who was the person who told you where I live on campus?"  
  
Tane looked confused. "You don't want to know how I found out you were here in the first place?" he gasped.  
  
I clenched my jaw. "No. Just answer the question, or I'll break your nose."  
  
Tane's face now changed to one of distress and fear, and I knew he was going to answer me quickly. "Okay, okay!" he groaned. "It was some shaggy, black-haired guy."  
  
My eyes narrowed in anger. "Twitch," I muttered. I pushed past Tane and out my dorm door, not even bothering to see Tane out or close my bedroom door in my blind rage.


	10. dieci

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh-oh.

It was a little chilly at night to be going out without a light jacket, so I was a little cold walking across campus to Twitch's dorm.  I burst through the unlocked door, and then stormed past Twitch's housemates, all of whom had stopped dead in what they were doing to stare at me storming past.  I knew they were all staring at me, so I threw my middle finger up behind me as I walked past the kitchenette and rammed my fist against the door of Twitch's bedroom.  
  
The door opened after a minute of furious knocking.  "Calm the fuck - oh, Arabella, I thought we were meeting for dinner," Twitch said, smiling at me.  
  
I wasted no time in getting what I wanted to know out of him.  "Was there a dark-skinned guy here a few minutes ago?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Was he looking for me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
I slapped Twitch on the forehead.  "What the fuck?!"  
  
"Ow!  What the fuck was that for?" Twitch whined.  
  
"You fucking idiot, that was my ex-boyfriend!" I yelled.  There was no recognition on Twitch's face.  "The one that stalks me?"  His face remained blank.  I lowered my voice a bit, because I didn't really want Twitch's housemates to hear this tidbit, and leaned in toward Twitch slightly.  "The one I confided in you about that day in my dorm when you asked me to be your girlfriend?" I hissed.  
  
Twitch's eyes widened in recognition.  "Oh...shit.  I'm sorry, I-"  
  
"Didn't know, yeah, yeah," I said, my voice rising back to a normal level.  
  
"Belle, I-" Twitch began, his face full of concern.  
  
I held up a hand.  "Can it, Twitch," I said shortly.  "I know what you're going to say, and I don't want to hear any of it.  Just...leave me alone, okay?  I'll talk to you when I want to."  
  
Twitch's face fell and he actually hung his head, but my anger did not ebb.  I knew he was going to say something, so I waited for him to do so, albeit a bit impatiently; I remembered I had left my bedroom door open, let alone unlocked, when I stormed out past Tane, and I had a miniature heart attack, but didn't let it show on my face.  "So what does that mean for us?" he asked quietly.  
  
I sighed, my anger ebbing away slightly.  "I don't know, just...leave me alone, okay?" I repeated, much more solemn than the first time I had asked him.  
  
"Yeah, okay," Twitch said reluctantly.  
  
I didn't say anything further, or even wave; I just turned around and left Twitch's dorm with his housemates still staring at me.  
  
It was even colder outside than when I had stormed over here, and since I wasn't in a blind rage, I felt the cold much deeper and much quicker.  I walked about six feet away from Twitch's door before I was absolutely frozen and was convinced I could walk no further.  I sighed, annoyed with myself for not even thinking to bring a jacket, and then sighed again, even more annoyed with myself that I yelled at Twitch for something that wasn't even really his fault.  His intentions are always good for me, and I know that he never means to hurt me.  I groaned at my lack of control of emotion, and then shivered, which started me back to Twitch's dorm.  
  
I think none of Twitch's housemates had taken their eyes off the front door, like they knew I was going to come back, because they were all staring at me as I reentered the small living room.  I stared back at them all for a moment, shivered again, and then made my way back to Twitch's room.  I knocked on his door much softer, and he opened it immediately, like he had been standing by it and waiting for me to come back.  
  
"Arabella, you're freezing!  Come inside," he said, ushering me in, but instead I just walked into his chest because he was the nearest warm thing to me.  He just chuckled and pulled me into his room with him, closing the door behind him.  We sat down on his bed, and I looked around.  
  
"Hey, didn't you have a roommate?" I asked.  
  
"He dropped out of school, so I get the room to myself now.  I pushed the beds together, and I'm using the extra desk as hidden storage," Twitch explained, looking proud of himself.  
  
I giggled and kissed his cheek.  "Aren't you handy?" I remarked.  After a moment of silence, I turned to Twitch and said solemnly, "I'm sorry for banging on your door and yelling at you in front of all your housemates.  You didn't know who he was and it didn't cross your mind to ask why he was looking for me."  
  
He grinned and kissed me passionately.  "It's okay, love, I understand you're mad. And I'm sorry I didn't ask why he was looking for you."  
  
I smiled back at him.  "You're such a sweetheart."  
  
"Thanks, baby doll.  You ready to go to dinner?" he asked.  
  
"Can we just stay here tonight?  I'm perfectly okay with microwave noodles, too," I said.  
  
Twitch chuckled and kissed my forehead.  "Of course we can.  I think I have just enough left for the both of us.  Wanna download a movie too?"  
  
I nodded emphatically.  "Something cute I can randomly turn away from and kiss you," I said.  
  
He smiled.  "I know just the movie."  He jumped off the bed, but not before kissing me again.  He dove under his bed and pulled out two packs of microwave noodles.  "Which one?" he asked.  
  
I looked them both over for a moment.  "That one," I said, pointing to the left one.  
  
"Good choice," Twitch said, standing up and pecking my cheek.  "I'll be back in a few minutes.  You make yourself comfortable, okay?"  I nodded and Twitch walked out into the kitchenette.  
  
I laid back on Twitch's beds and smiled at the ceiling.  I could really get used to Billie's changing personalities, and I was actually perfectly okay with showing him this other, much softer and cuter side of me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more character development! and how about this new side of Arabella?


End file.
